New Hampshire
Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day vigils in Dover, Portsmouth, around NH
Nearly a dozen New Hampshire communities are hosting vigils this week to remember friends and family who passed away because of homelessness this year. Keene hosted a vigil on Monday, Concord had one Thursday, and more are scheduled Saturday, including in Dover and Portsmouth.
“It’s the first night of winter, the longest night of the year, the darkest day of the year,” said Maggie Fogarty from the American Friends Service Committee. “It’s a good time for a solemn reflection on the loss of our siblings to homelessness, also coming as it does during a season of celebration and of light.”
Fogarty helps compile the list of people who will be remembered at these vigils. She explained that it includes people who passed away while being unhoused, as well as people who died prematurely because of the toll from being unhoused, even after finding housing.
About 60 people will be remembered this year, either just with their name, or a memory from someone who knew them. While some names are submitted by friends and family, most are from people who provide supportive services to unhoused people.
She added that these vigils are also a chance for community members to reflect and commit to advocacy, especially because 2025 is a budget-writing year for state government.
“That commitment to system change and to ensuring that public policy, not just charity, combine to protect everyone from poverty,” she said. “That’s as important an aspect of this remembrance as the coming together as a community to remember our siblings.”
According to a new report, New Hampshire saw the highest percentage rise in homelessness in the country between 2022 and 2023. The number of people facing homelessness in the Granite State went up by roughly 52%, while other states’ saw an average increase of 12% during the same time period, according to the report.
The report is put out annually by the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness using information from a “point in time” count, which is an effort to count the number of homeless individuals in the state on a single day each year.
That data in the latest report suggests that New Hampshire saw a decline in veterans experiencing homelessness between 2022 and 2023. But the problem worsened for people dealing with chronic homelessness, single adults, families and sheltered individuals.
Homeless Persons Memorial Day vigils in Seacoast
Colebrook – Saturday, December 21 at 6 PM at 147 Main Street, in front of the Congregational Church. Contact: TRI County Community Action Program, ebecker@tccap.org
Concord – Thursday, December 19 at 4 pm at the State House, Concord. Contact: Angela Spinney, aspin@concordhomeless.org. Facebook event.
Conway – Saturday, December 21 at 6 PM at The Way Station, 15 Grove Street, Conway. Contact: TRI County Community Action Program, ebecker@tccap.org
Dover – Saturday, December 21 at First Parish Church, 218 Central Ave, Dover at 5 PM to 6 PM. Contact: Joyce Tugel, jtugel@gmail.com. Here’s the flyer.
Keene – Monday, December 16 at 5:30 PM at Saint James Episcopal Church, 44 West Street, Keene. Hosted by Hundred Nights, info@hundrednightsinc.org. More information here.
Laconia – Friday, December 20 at 5:30 PM at Isaiah 61 Cafe, 100 New Salem St, Laconia. Contact: Dawn Longval, dlongval@metrocast.net
Lancaster – Saturday, December 21 at 6 PM at the Centennial Park Green Gazebo on Main Street in Lancaster. Contact: TRI County Community Action Program, ebecker@tccap.org
Littleton – Saturday, December 21 at 6 PM at the Littleton Winter Shelter, 18 Pleasant Street Littleton. Contact: TRI County Community Action Program, ebecker@tccap.org
Manchester – Friday, December 20 at 6 PM at Veterans Park, Manchester. Contact: Crystal Butts-Ducharme, crystal.butts-ducharme@cmc-nh.org
Manchester – Saturday, December 21 at 12 noon at 1269 Café 456 Union St Manchester. Contact: Craig Chevalier craig@thetwelveonunion.org
Nashua – Saturday, December 21, 5 PM to 6 PM, at City Hall, at 229 Main Street Nashua. Contact: Tom Lopez, LopezT@NashuaNH.gov. Facebook event.
Newport – Saturday, December 21 at 6 PM at the Newport town common by the gazebo. Contact: Rev. Elisabeth Smith, Church of the Good Shepherd (United Methodist), pastorelisabeth415@gmail.com
Peterborough – Saturday, December 21 at 4 PM on the steps of the Peterborough Town House, 1 Grove Street, Peterborough, NH. Hosted by the Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter (MATS). Contact: Susan Howard, mats.peterborough@gmail.com
Portsmouth – Saturday, December 21, 5 PM to 6 PM at South Church, 292 State Street, Portsmouth, hosted by CrossRoads House. Facebook event.
Upper Valley – Friday, December 20 at 5:30 PM at LISTEN Community Services, 42 Maple Street, White River Jct, VT. Contact: Lynne Goodwin, lynne.goodwin@lebanonnh.gov
NHPR’s Olivia Richardson contributed to this report.
These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.
New Hampshire
Cops Searching For Missing Man | Rollover Crash | House Speaker To Step Down | More: PM Patch NH
Community Corner
Also: Homeless burglar accused of burglarizing store for cigarettes; 2026 political signup updates; Statehouse votes; sports notes; more.
CONCORD, NH — Here are some share-worthy stories from the New Hampshire Patch network to discuss this afternoon and evening.
This post features stories and information published during the past 24 hours.
Missing Nashua Man Frequents Lawrence And Lowell, Police Say: Christopher Serrano was last seen on April 20, and family and friends are concerned for his well-being.
Find out what’s happening in Concordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Rollover Crash In Concord Closes South Main Street; 1 Sent To The Hospital: Video: South Main Street between Perley and Water streets was closed to traffic for about 90 minutes after a collision on Friday morning.
Homeless Felon, Previously Convicted Of Burglary, Accused Of Burglarizing Concord Market Basket For Ciggies: Kevin Gobeil, who has been arrested dozens of times in the capital city, faces another felony charge after a September 2025 incident.
Find out what’s happening in Concordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Blood Drives | Farmers Markets | Historical Society Events | More: The Salem Patch Weekender: NH PBS Spring Auction; books and brews; wildflowers, waterfalls, and garden trains; addiction recovery program; stories; arts and crafts.
Technical Trouble Delays Sentencing For Trans Ex-State Rep. In Child Sex Abuse Images Case: Once hailed as one of the “LGBTQIA+ Democrats who are the backbone of the Granite State,” Stacie Laughton is facing decades in prison.
Woman Injured In Rollover | Dating App Hookup Investigation Leads To Rape Charges | More: PM Patch NH: Also: “Substance abuse reduction initiative” nets 6; 2026 candidate filings, other political notes; argument leads to woman being run over.
2026 Political Posts
Here is some of the latest news from Patch partners.
🌱 Patch AM: GoFundMe Efforts Set Up To Help Victims Of Nashua Apartment Building Fire: Follow-Up
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New Hampshire
More businesses would be exempt from a key state tax under a proposal heading to Ayotte’s desk
The New Hampshire House and Senate stopped shy of cutting a major state business tax outright Thursday, but did pass a plan to lift the tax’s filing threshold, and spend $2.5 million to lift Medicaid provider rates at state nursing homes.
“What you have before you is a bill that will protect our nursing homes, and protect our small businesses,” said Republican Sen. Tim Lang of Sanbornton.
Under the bill, the threshold on the state business and enterprise tax would be lifted from $297,000 to $400,000, a move GOP leaders expect will exempt about 4,000 small businesses from having to pay the tax.
The bill’s inclusion of money to boost provider rates for nursing homes was a policy the Senate prioritized, and its inclusion in the bill earned the plan some Democratic support. But that evaporated when Republicans in the House pushed to add a trigger to the bill to automatically reduce the rate of the tax when collections from the levy far exceeded estimates.
“The rate cuts are reckless and irresponsible and would potentially cost hundreds of millions of dollars in the future,” said Sen. Cindy Rosenwald of Nashua.
Under the plan, the tax rate, which now stands at 0.55%, would automatically drop by .005% anytime collections on the tax surpassed estimates by $100 million until the rate of the levy reached 0.25%, equivalent to the rate when the tax was created in 1993. Any reduction would also require the state’s Rainy Day Fund to hold a strong balance.
Cutting business taxes has been a focus for GOP leaders in Concord for years, and they’ve dropped the rate of the Business Enterprise Tax four times since 2016.
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